Monthly Archives: August 2013

“I don’t know what the rest of my story will be.
It could end in a few minutes, or tomorrow, or next year, or I could be the world’s most famous author in the year 1983, living in a cake shop with a dog called Jumble and my best friend, Zelda.
However my story turns out, I’ll never forget how lucky I am. Barney said everybody deserves to have something good in their life at least once.
I have.
More than once.” (p. 163, Gleitzman)

Once is a book that will stay with you long after you finish it. In this novel, Gleitzman, the author, tries to imagine the unimaginable—life as a Jewish child during the Holocaust. Felix, the main character, escapes reality through writing stories and often sharing them with other kids. His parents have left him in a Catholic Orphanage in order to ensure his safety.…

“I know it is kind of ridiculous, but I realize now how wrong that old pervert [English teacher] Mr. Welkins is. Almost nothing at all is ever about sex, unless you never grow up, that is.
It’s about love, and maybe, not having it.
What an old, delusioned idiot he is.
But what do I know?
I’m just fourteen.”

p. 438 (Smith)

My one piece of advice to readers is to have tissues handy when reading Winger. Smith has brilliantly mastered evoking emotions and creating a story that allows for the reader to feel as if the characters are people living in his or her own neighborhood. You will cry so hard from laughing at this first person narrative just as much as you will cry while reading about the lessons the main character, Ryan Dean, learns throughout the story.…